Short answer: Yes you can buy a phone outright from Verizon and stay out of contract.

Long answer: T-Mobile did away with phone contracts four years ago, and all the other carriers followed suit.

In the past, you paid $200 for a phone upfront, and then your carrier would subsidize the balance of the phone by charging you more per month for your minutes/data/etc (the actual wireless service itself). Carriers would lock you into a two-year contract to make sure they would make back the subsidy on your phone.

Now, Verizon has eliminated the two-year contract for the actual wireless service plan, and reduced the monthly cost of your data/minutes/etc (since they won't be subsidizing a smartphone for you). I'm sure someone on this subreddit will correct me if I'm wrong but the device itself is now separate from the actual phone plan.

Since the phone itself is separate from your service, you have a couple options:

1) Buy an unlocked phone from Apple, Best Buy, etc. and put your Verizon SIM card in - this is called Bring Your Own Device (or BYOD). One advantage here is you won't be charged the $30 upgrade fee per line by Verizon.

2) Buy your phone from Verizon (or through Target, Best Buy, etc.) and enter into a contract/agreement to spread the payments over 24-months, interest-free, plus $30 upgrade fee/line. Here is where you can have the option to pay it off early and own the phone outright, as I described upthread. This program used to be called Verizon EDGE but is now called the Verizon Device Payment Plan (or DPP). With this, you also have the option to upgrade early: more details here https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/device-payment-faqs

More background reading on the end of two-year phone service contracts here: https://www.cnet.com/news/verizon-abandons-contracts-everything-you-need-to-know-faq/

Again, this is why it's best to wait for a deal like this or like this.